With the development of mobile communication technologies, electronic devices perform various data communication functions through wired/wireless networks as well as a voice communication function. The electronic devices may provide various functions as applications obtained through the wired/wireless networks are executed. For example, the electronic device may provide a location-based service by using an application using location information of the electronic device.
The electronic device may obtain location information of the electronic device from a satellite positioning device (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite) that provides location information. The location information of the electronic device may include, for example, a latitude and a longitude in a location, and may be used as a parameter of the location-based service. The electronic device may estimate a location of the electronic device by using location information of a base station or a relay device communicating with the electronic device.
The electronic device recognizes the location of the electronic device by using a GPS satellite. However, if a GPS signal transmitted from the GPS satellite is disturbed or fails to be received, the electronic device may not determine a correct location by using the GPS signal. A location estimation scheme using a location of the base station or the relay device communicating with the electronic device estimates a location of a transmission point at which a signal is transmitted as the location of the electronic device, resulting in an error of several kilometers at most from the correct location.
Moreover, a scheme to estimate a distance by using a radio channel gain at the transmission point at which the electronic device communicates a signal is also used, but the radio channel gain has a problem of a different estimated distance according to surrounding geographical features or obstacles or signal reception performance of the electronic device.